Ann Lovett

"My creative work has always been concerned with posing questions and creating dialogue about important social and political issues."
-Ann Lovett

After undergoing a series of medical tests, photographer Ann Lovett became interested in the "luminous beauty" revealed by x-rays and other imaging systems. She created the series The Book of the Body as a way of exploring both the interior and exterior worlds of the human body, as well as her own feelings of vulnerability and fragility as a surgical patient. The series consists of photographically enlarged x-ray images juxtaposed with dramatic, close-up images of details of the body's surfaces. In her series, Mortal Dangers I, she is quoted as saying, "I explored my own conflicting feelings about aging as well as the societal pressures about body image felt by all women." This series explores the internalization of society's idealized visions of beauty, as well as the cultural and individual fears on mortality. Her 1993 project, Paying the Price, a Metropolitan Bus Project, was exhibited in the advertising space in a public transit bus in Buffalo and Rochester. Through a collage of currency, financial statistics and personal photographs, the project explored the current economic relationship between the U.S. and Mexico.

Ann Lovett is currently a Photography Professor at SUNY New Paltz, New York. She was represented in the 2005 exhibition, The Contemporary Eye, at the Michener Museum in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

Education and Training
Skidmore College, BS, Saratoga Springs, New York, 1976
Tyler School of Art, Temple University, MFA, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1980

Teachers and Influences
William Larson, Tyler School of Art

Connection to Bucks County
Ann Lovett was born in Newtown, Pennsylvania. She received a MFA from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Elkins Park.

Colleagues and Affiliations
Ann Lovett considers photographer David Graham a colleague. They both attended graduate school at Tyler School of Art at the same time.

Major Solo Exhibitions
Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, TX, 1981
University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, 1982
Amarillo College, Amarillo, TX, 1982
State University of New York, New Paltz, NY, 1985
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, 1985
University of Illinois, Chicago, IL, 1986
Moore College of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1986
North Texas State University, Denton, TX, 1987
Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, MO, 1987
University of California, Berkeley Extension Center, San Francisco, CA, 1987
Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1988
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 1988
Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY, 1990
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 1990
LaGuardia Community College, Long Island City, NY, 1991
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 1996
The Center for Photography, Woodstock, NY, 1998
Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY, 1998
Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY, 1998

Selected Group Exhibitions
National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, Traveling Exhibition, 1989-1990
Rockford College Art Gallery, Rockford, IL, 1991
University of Texas at San Antonio, and Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX, Traveling Exhibition, 1990-1995
Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, 1993
Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY, 1993
University of Texas at Austin, TX, 1993
Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, 1994
New York Public Library, New York, NY, 1994
University of Texas at Dallas, TX, 1995
Galeria de Arte Plastica Contemporanea, Guatemala City, Guatemala, 1996
Rice Gallery, Albany, NY, 1997, 1998
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1998
Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, 1998, 1999
Monique Goldstrom Gallery, New York, NY, 2001
Marist College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York, 2002
Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, TX, 2003
Museum fur Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany, 2003
Klingspor-Museum, Offenbach, Germany, 2003
Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY, 2003-2004
Martin-Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany, 2004
ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2004
Bundeskensthalle, Bonn, Germany, 2005
The Contemporary Eye, Michener Art Museum, New Hope, PA, 2005

Major Collections
Ann Lovett's photographs and books can be found in the following selected collections:
The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn , NY
Kresge Art Museum, East Lansing, MI
Trenton State College, Trenton, NJ
Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.

Commissions
Metro Bus Project, C.E.P.A. Gallery, Buffalo, NY, Public Transportation Art, Montage 93, 1993
The Book of the Body, Medical Care Facilities Exhibits, 1995-1996

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Professor, Art Studio Department, SUNY at New Paltz, New York, 1982-present
Workshop Instructor, Introduction to Digital Imaging, Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York, 1994-1996
Instructor, Department of Art, Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas, 1980-1982

Major Awards
Artist's Support Program, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA, 1987, 1988, 1989
Artist Grant, Artists Space, New York, NY, 1989
United University Professions, State University of NY, 1993, 1995
New York State Council on the Arts, Decentralization Grant and Individual Artist's Program, 1995-1996
Artist Fellowship, New York Foundation on the Arts, 2002